Rights Of Women wish to challenge the lawfulness of the current guidelines surrounding DV victims and their ability to access legal aid for family cases.

Under the most recent set of legal aid changes which took place in 2013, the threshold for acquiring legal aid has become impossibly high, with victims required to produce prescribed forms of evidence in order to gain access to such aid.

Sadly, many victims cannot produce that evidence and so remain at risk of harm, or death.

Violence is violence so why is domestic violence different and why is it even dealt with in civil family law? Of course this goes back to the church when husbands were deemed to do a good job of husbanding their “breeders”/women by beating them whenever the man wished to.
Now expecting abused women to go into court alone days or weeks after the violence and still suffering PTSD is of course not justice.
Then again try and find a solicitor who even speaks the DV language is a challenge.
For DV cases should be heard in criminal court with DV advocates with years of experience in there speaking for the victim.
All too often we hear advocates in despair in court as they felt helpless to assist as their voices were never heard.
As I said in Vienna a one day workshop does not make a judge or any other professional and expert.20 years and I am still learning.
But there is a pattern which most judges, and others do not see.
Psychiatrists and psychologists are not actually DV experts at all and usually label the victim with some mental disorder when in fact PTSD is normal in these cases. So instead of calling all female victims of DV liars and mental, let us also spend money on proper training and allow the real DV experts into court to open the eyes of judges etc.
How can we possibly expect a victim of crime to face her abuser alone in court?

The perpetrator will appear the strongest parent and is as he has beaten his victim into her place.
Now when we hear judges reminding female victims of DV that its all in their heads and this is how it has been for eons, then we know DV advocates are seriously needed in the court room.

Of course so many victims end up seriously ill from legal abuse because justice was not seen, to be done.Where the victim was further re abused by those paid to deliver justice. But DV has no place in family law courts – full stop.
We need the criminal psychologists for this .

Its so so easy to understand after years and years of study and meeting the victims. In 20 years the situation has become much worse with the Devil’s Advocate mindset in court setting.
Strange how Justice is represented as a fe+male where s/he balances the male and female energies of law and justice.